The UK government is considering legislation to ban people from the net if they are found guilty of online copyright theft is a dramatic escalation in the battle against "piracy". Because there are about six million people a year that is estimated to download files illegally from internet. Music and film companies say that the illegal downloads cost them millions of pounds in lost revenues.

If the law were enacted it would turn ISPs, like BT, Tiscali and Virgin, into a pro-active police force who would have to monitor traffic on the internet in order to look out for copyright files being swapped online. So that, the internet service provider had force to take action over the users who access private material via their accounts.

This legislation would mean the UK would have the most stringent and prohibitive anti-piracy laws in the world.

It would be a technical challenge for ISPs to do this. Monitoring traffic that is shared using file-sharing tools like BitTorrent is perfectly feasible, as the programs use specific internet ports. In fact, ISPs already monitor file-sharing traffic across the net in order to shape the flow of information - prioritising certain bits of data over others.

Knowing where to look isn't the problem; knowing what to look for is. Every day many terabytes of data are being shared over the internet using file-sharing tools. Individual packets of information can be inspected. Would all digital content have to be watermarked? Would ISPs have responsibility for this? If not, who would?

And there is evidence that more people are encrypting files that they send over peer to peer networks, making it difficult to know exactly what they are sharing. That may give rise to further suspicion but will ISPs be given powers to force users to decrypt their files?

Internet service providers have long been loath to become the net police - for obvious legal and financial reasons. They see themselves as passive conduits, like a road network or the postal system.

The global record industry has been quick to back the government's proposal.
Digital rights activist will be outraged by this move. Monitoring our internet traffic will have huge privacy issues.

No-one can deny that the scale of copyright theft is mammoth. A cursory glance at a website like The Pirate Bay revels thousands of films, TV programmers, albums, software programs etc being shared across the net.

But there is legitimate debate about what this means to the global content industry and to consumers. Does it signal a seismic shift in the way people want to pay, use and share their content, and what we understand by copyright? Or is it wholesale theft that needs to be stamped out user by user by user?

Electronic government (E-government) has the potential to change the way that a government interacts with citizens and businesses through the new ways of the government’s operation. At least, there are three reasons why government should fi rmly impose its commitment to implement E-government.

Firstly, expectations of the citizens for government services are rising for similar kinds of improved services accorded by the business sector. Nowadays, citizens at large are demanding better services from the government and wondering why the government cannot employ ICT and multimedia technologies the way the business sector can.

Secondly, having an E-government in place may reduce costs for the government in the long run, particularly during economic downturns.

Thirdly, E-government may spearhead the growth of the business sector through its many “network effects”. For instance, the business sector can leverage on an efficient E-government, thus, making it more competitive, efficient and productive.

This flagship seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility, and quality of interactions between citizens, the business and government sectors. It uses ICT and multimedia technologies to transform the way the government operates and improves the processes of policy development, coordination and enforcement. There are seven main projects under this flagship.

1.Project Monitoring System (SPP II)

Provides a new mechanism for monitoring the implementation of development projects, incorporating

operational and managerial functions, and knowledge repository.

2.Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)

Provides a single interface for government employees to perform HRD functions effectively and efficiently in an integrated environment. Applications include automating both operational processes and information dissemination

3.Generic Office Environment (GOE)

Provides a new paradigm of working in a collaborative environment where government agencies communicate, interact and share information.

4.Electronic Procurement (EP)

Links the government and suppliers in an online environment. Government agencies as buyers procure goods/services by browsing catalogues advertised by suppliers. Aimed at best value for money, timely and accurate payment

5.Electronic Services (E-Services)

Enables direct, online transactions and interactions between the public, the government and large service providers via electronic means.

MY E.G. Services Bhd ("MYEG") was one of the private limited company that provide E-service on 17 February 2000. MYEG has provider link to Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan, Jalan Diraja Malaysia, Tenaga Malaysia, Telekon Malaysia Berhad, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, Jabatan Insolvensi Malaysia and Jabatan Perdaftaran Negara.

6.Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)

A one-stop center for labor market information, accessible to government agencies, the business sector and the citizens.

7.E-Syariah

Introduces administrative reforms that upgrade the quality of services in Syariah courts. To enhance the Islamic Affairs Department effectiveness – better monitoring and coordination of its agencies and Syariah courts

First is poor money management. We must know how to develop the monthly spending plan essentially. It is also important to know where the money is going. We may be spending hundreds of dollars on unnecessary things each month and when there is a need of purchasing a required commodity, we do not have any cash left and we will used a credit card frequently ending up in debt. Besides that, a monthly plan is easier than writing down how we spend. Thus, we need to make thoughtful decisions about where and when to spend the money.

Second is credit card debt by income or expenses. People pile up credit card debt by increasing their spending without considering their income for a host of good reasons. Therefore, the salaries do not increase the same way and people with less income purchase more on their credit accounts and get hold of credit card debt.

Next, a basis cause of credit card debt is under employment. Creditors generously provide bad credit cards to consumers who already have credit card debt on easy terms and hidden costs to such customers and the debt keeps increasing day by day. In such a situation you must decrease the expenses and down the road increase the income by extra hours of work, second job or a better job. Then we have to limit the used of credit cards to emergencies only if we actually want to live a debt free life.

Prevention

Nowadays, many people have the problem of spending more money on their credit cards, then they bring each month. When you could not pay all of the original balances on your credit card bills, they will begin adding up in interest very quickly so that it will increase in debt. Therefore, you have to find the best ways to decrease the amount of money that you spend on your credit cards, so that you do not end up in this kind of debt situation again.

Firstly, you need to find out how much extra income is going out, as opposed to how much is coming in. It means that taking all of their bills, including money for food, and other things that buy on the side and subtracting that from your monthly income. Beside that, you need to be done something to get your situation under control before you get any further into credit card debt when the number you get is negative. Therefore, you should start find out what extra expenses that really do not need in your life.

Once you have revealed where your downfalls lie, it is time to start correcting them so that you can spend not as much of money on your credit cards each month. First, go through and determine which of these non-necessities are used least. For example, if your household has very cable channel available but no one in your family is ever home, it may be a good idea to relegate to a basic cable plan. Besides that, if your children have cell phone plans, it is best to get them the minimum amount of plans they have or a pre-paid phone, so that they can only spend so many minutes and then if they want more, they have to buy them. If you are in a situation where money is really tight that you are putting on your credit cards, it may be time to find ways to cut down on unnecessary living expenses.

Finally, hardly anyone knows how money works and grows and many parents do not bother to teach their kids about how to work with the income. So please keep in mind that you are responsible for your money and so learn how to save it and spend it to avoid a complicated life.

Mobile payment (m-payment) is the collection of money from a consumer via a mobile device such as their mobile phone, Smartphone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or other such device. Such device are playing an increasing and evolving in the wider development of electronic payment systems around the world. Mobile payment can be used to purchase any number of digital or hard goods, such as Music, videos, ringtones, games, wallpapers and other digital goods, Books, magazines, tickets and other hard goods.

Mobile network operators have played an important role in pushing the technology necessary for m-payment. In many cases, however, the early efforts to launch m-payment services were met by suspicion from financial institutions, including banks and card companies. Just a few year later, these stakeholders are now collaborating to trial a range of services including m-banking and m-wallet solution that store credit or debit card information on a SIM chip. Text messaging systems can also facilitate or enable payments.
Mobile network operators are approaching m-payments strategically, in their bid to retail customers and develop wider sources of revenue from lines of business which can be strongly complementary. Fixed-mobile convergence is one manifestation of this, as it gives telecom operators an opportunity to unify their payments platforms on an internet protocol basis and offer discount or loyalty points on m-payment as part of a bundled service.

In Malaysia, mobile payment systems are developing quite quickly but it market less organically. Emerging services have received government support, but uptake in the market has been limited. Existing services are focused predominantly on bill payment and m-banking, growing slowly into m-wallet services, remittance and top-up or transfer offerings.

Maxis and Maybank in Malaysia both provide a simple m-banking service for subscribers such as bill payment, balance enquiries, and fund transfers. This can also be used to top-up Maxis accounts, download Maxis content, and pay for products such as pizza and movie tickets. Another Maxis competitor, Digi, is providing many of the same services to customers.

Consumer’s adoption of mobile payment is important for widely using of it.

Simplicity and Usability
Simplicity and usability largely determine whether users will use a service. This includes not only a user-friendly interface, but also the whole range of goods and services one can purchase, the geographical availability of the service, and the level of risk the user is taking while using it. The learning curve should be close to zero and ease of use/convenience to the consumer should be enhanced. The customer should also have the ability to highly personalize the service in order to easily integrate it to his everyday payment activities.

Universality
M-commerce favors the logic of online universal payment services, integrating, in a user-transparent fashion, person-to-person (P2P), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B), domestic, regional, and global coverage, low-value and high-value payments.

Interoperability
In financial services, interoperability has always been a highly contentious topic, and its progress has been uneven and in many cases rather slow. Standardization around the payment service should make interconnection of networks and systems technically easy and cost-effective. Mobile payment component development should be based on standards and open technologies that will allow any system to interact with another system on a global scale at all levels (e.g. any mobile with any POS, any payment software should run on a wide range of mobiles etc.). The number of acceptance points is critical; therefore, standardized solutions that can be composed of plug-and-play components are a must.

Security, Trust, and Privacy
Upon subscribing to an m-payment system, users are expected to place inherent trust in the system. Giving access to a checking or savings account to a software company is not the same thing, in most users’ minds, as giving that same access to an already trusted entity, such as a bank. Unless the basis for electronic payment systems is based on tried and true secure banking practices, it is unlikely that users will adopt it. Needless to say, all steps should be secured and trusted from a technological as well as social perspective. Furthermore, m-payment should minimize fraud losses and provide user-controlled transaction-specific privacy support. The last implies that anonymous payments should be possible (as with cash today). Furthermore, technologies such as biometrics, and mobile digital signatures will have to be further advanced in order to be easily integrated into MP architectures.

Cross-Border Payments
For an m-payment service to be widely acceptable, it should be possible to make cross-border payments almost as easily as local payments. Furthermore, this should be done regardless of the location of the user (i.e. whether he is roaming abroad or not). The European Union requires a cross-border electronic payment system to be available in all of its members, and to be as efficient as any domestic system. Any global MP system should be able to handle cross-border payments in any currency and at any place.

Cost
The new systems should be, in the end, more cost effective than the legacy approaches, e.g. the technology used may cost more but fraud is minimized, so ultimately it is a cost-saving solution. They should also create new revenue flows or better handle existing processes in order to justify their existence.

Local Market Understanding
Most customers are used to existing payment methods and need an incentive to use anything new. The ability to use the mobile device as a payment tool in itself might not be enough. Users and merchants need to see additional benefits. Approaches that wish to be sustainable must either improve their functionality and usability, or be creative in making users and merchants perceive it as beneficial. Furthermore, the same success criteria may not apply to every country due to local social conditions. The last factor leads to the requirement for an understanding of the local market, as well as an understanding of unique conditions on a per region or even per country basis.

Integration of Legacy Approaches
It should be possible to reuse existing infrastructure and legacy billing systems, especially those that are difficult to change (e.g. bank systems). Existing channels, such as pre-/post-accounts, credit card infrastructures, etc., should be supported, and the user should be free to choose the processing partner (e.g. bank, MNO, credit card) on a per transaction basis (corresponding to the requirements of each processing partner).

What is prepaid cash? Prepaid cash are like debit card and credit card which is using it to purchase product or service. But the way of payment is different, debit card is allowing the consumer to withdraw money to pay for the product from their account and credit card is allow consumer to pay the product without cash and pay it later date. Prepaid card need to reload it before the consumer can use it to purchase the product or serviced.

In second thought, prepaid cash is very useful then the debit and credit card for the consumer. Because debit and credit card can encourage the consumer to overspend the money without the consumer notice. Debit card is using the consumer bank account to pay for the product that means the consumer may spend all his account money without knowing it. And credit card do not require the consumer to pay off the balance each month and this causing the consumer illusion that their has free money but consumer need to pay it off in longer time with interest. But unlike prepaid cash, it can help the consumer to control their budget by putting certain amount into the prepaid cash.

Touch ‘n Go is one of the most common prepaid cash in Malaysia. Mostly the consumers in Malaysia use the Touch ‘n Go in highway to enhance the speed of paying for low value but high frequency transactions. Apart from the speed, it is also very convenient because user no longer need to prepare for small change or wait in queue at the cash lane to complete the transaction. Besides using Touch ‘n Go in the high way it also can use it in other public transportation and parking. To find out more location which can Touch ‘n Go click here

Electronic currency also known as electronic money which is which is exchanged only electronically. In recent years, the percentage of transactions done electronically is growing dramatically. One of the factors that causing it growing dramatically is electronic funds transfer (EFT) system systems, which move funds in and out of accounts using electronic impulses. EFT systems range from the now-familiar automated teller machines (ATM) to “virtual banking” on the Internet. Click here for more.

The common form of the EFT is automated teller machine (ATM), point-of-sale (POS) system, and direct payment.

1.Automated teller machine (ATM)
The most common form of EFT technology is the ATM, which enables us to make deposits, obtain cash, and transfer funds between accounts. Many ATMs also can be used to pay bills and loans and complete other transactions. ATMs are activated by inserting a special access card into a machine. A consumer must enter a personal identification number (PIN) before any account or transaction information appears on the screen. When the transaction is completed, the consumer receives a receipt showing the date, the dollar amount and the type of transaction.

2.Point of sales (POS)
Consumers use POS as a credit card or debit card to transfer funds immediately from their account to a merchant’s account. To use POS online, a consumer simply passes a debit card through the terminal to transfer the funds. It is usually also necessary ro punch in the proper PIN. The consumer receives a printed receipt after the transaction is completed. Some POS transactions are “offline.” With an offline transaction, the consumer does not usually have to enter a PIN number, and the sales charge is submitted by the retailer along with charge slips. The amount of the transaction is deducted by the consumer’s bank when the sales slip is received and appears on the consumer’s bank statement rather than as a charge on a credit card statement. Offline POS transactions may also require the customer’s signature on a slip that resembles a charge slip.

3.Direct Deposit
Another form of electronic banking is direct deposit and preauthorized payments or electronic bill payment. Direct deposits are automated credits or increases to the consumer’s account. Preauthorized bill payments are automated debits or reductions. Unlike ATM and POS transactions, no access card is needed. Direct deposits are increasingly used by employers, government agencies and other organizations that make regular payments, such as wages and dividends, to individuals.

Is your Web site or Internet business a trustworthy one? Many online consumers feel threatened by the evolving dangers of engaging in e-commerce and online transactions today. Their online privacy and security needs are growing rapidly. Third party certification programme is dedicated to meeting these online consumer needs while providing an Internet business solution that exposes the trustworthy Web site or Internet businesses.

The 3^rd party certification programme is an important and affordable Internet business solution essential to help increase online sales. Online customers will buy often from an Internet business they can trust. 3^rd party certification programme helps build that bond of trust between Internet business owners and their online customers.

How to become Third party certification in Malaysia? To become third party certification in Malaysia need to get licensed under the Digital Signature 1997 first. “Digital Signature Act 1997” is one of the Malaysia Cyberlaw. That enabling law that allows for the development of, amongst others, e-commerce by providing an avenue for secures on-line transactions through the use of digital signatures. The Act provides a framework for the licensing and regulation of Certification Authorities, and gives legal recognition to digital signatures.

MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd is one of the 3^rd party certification programme in Malaysia since 1999. MSC Trustgate has joint venture with the Verisign which is the largest certificate authority behind the encryption and authentication on the Internet in American.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Authority is a technology provider by the Verisign to the MSC Trustgate. SSL is a technology use to protect the website and makes it easy for your Web site visitors to trust you. Maybank2u has use the MSC Trustgate SSL to enables encryption of sensitive information during online transactions.

In computing, phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. More of the phishing attack is by way of forged email and fake web sites, has exploded in popularity within the criminal sector of the Internet. The Anti-Phishing Working Group estimates that the volume of phishing e-mail is growing at a rate of over 30%, month after month. Furthermore, the attacks are becoming more sophisticated as attackers leverage vulnerabilities in client software (mail user agents and web browsers) as well as design vulnerabilities in targeted website applications.


One of a real-life phishing example is spam of email sent to many thousands of Westpac banking customers in May 2004. While the language sophistication is poor (probably due to the writer not being a native English speaker), many recipients were still fooled.


The email was sent in HTML format and the lower-case L’s have been replaced with upper-case I’s. This is used to help bypass many standard anti-spam filters, and in most fonts. It also hidden within the HTML email was many random words. Within the HTML-based email, the URL link https://oIb.westpac.com.au/ib/defauIt.asp in fact points to an escape-encoded version of the following URL: http://olb.westpac.com.au.userdll.com:4903/ib/index.htm. Recipients that clicked on the link were then forwarded to the real Westpac application. However a JavaScript popup window containing a fake login page was presented to them. This fake login window was designed to capture and store the recipient’s authentication credentials.

The other example of the phishing is by the web-based delivery. An increasingly popular method of conducting phishing attacks is through malicious web-site content. This content may be included within a web-site operated by the Phisher, or a third-party site hosting some embedded content. Web-based delivery techniques include the inclusion of HTML disguised links within popular web-sites or message boards, the use of web-bugs to track a potential customer in preparation for a phishing attack, the use of pop-up or frameless windows to disguise the true source of the Phishers message, Embedding malicious content within the viewable web-page that exploits a known vulnerability within the customers web browser software and installs software of the Phishers choice example such as key-loggers, and abuse of trust relationships within the customers web-browser configuration to make use of site-authorized scriptable components or data storage areas.

To prevent phishing, the following is the way to defense yourselves from the phishing.
• Don’t reply to email or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information, and don’t click on links in the message. Don’t cut and paste a link from the message into your Web browser – phishes can make links look like they go one place, but they actually send you to a different site.
• If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization using a phone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself.
• Use anti-virus software and a firewall, and keep them up to date.
• Don’t email personal or financial information.
• Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.
• Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from email you may receive, regardless of who sent them.

The issue of security and privacy infringement has become one of the most important areas of concern for both online consumerism and ecommerce merchants. The problem between customer and merchant is related to the perception of the buying public that online merchants, whether B2B, B2C, C2B or C2C are liable to protect them from the growing threat of privacy infringements, particularly credit card fraud. The prevailing question is whether the belief of many purchasers or consumers in the precarious nature of online security is affecting online commerce in a negative sense. Studies and research suggest that the problems experienced with online security have had a definite impact, albeit negative, on the growth and viability of online shopping to varying extents.

Most of the research results show that inevitably has a counterproductive effect on user perception of the viability of online shopping and ecommerce if the online security is under grade. So, the security issues are a central problem that affects both the ability of online commerce to function optimally and the way that consumers view online shopping and online transactions.

The very fact that online shopping and ecommerce takes place in a relatively new commercial space or environment has made shoppers wary of the ability of businesses and retailers to control transactions and ensure high levels of security and protection against privacy infringement for their transactions on the Internet.

By the way, most of the computer will also have installed the antivirus software. Antivirus software is computer programs that attempt to identify, neutralize or eliminate malicious software. It also uses to combat other threats including worm, phishing attacks, rootkits, trojan horses and other malware. Antivirus software typically uses to examining files to look for known viruses matching, and identifying suspicious behavior from any computer program which might indicate infection.

However, our online data will still get attack or steal by the person who is expert at programming and solving problems with a computer by illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system or against network.

All the attacks can cause incredible amounts of damage. Data modification and embezzle may cause the most serious damage of all. As information disclosure, that it is very difficult to detect someone stealing our data. For example, suppose that the perpetrators broke into your payroll system and added themselves to the payroll? How long would it take you to notice? If you work in a small organization, it probably would be discovered during the next pay period.

Until now, there has been no way of stopping internal employees who have the necessary permissions to access a database from abusing those rights. In addition the incidents of database attacks originating outside the company are growing rapidly. A few high profile examples are hitting the headlines but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The trend now is towards targeted database attacks, using skilled hackers to obtain specific data from a specific company, by getting access through conventional firewalls, or by corrupting web applications, often with insider assistance. There has been no effective way of addressing these vulnerabilities.

Know that, when it comes to securing your network, you can never be finished. Security is ongoing: technology changes and improves, systems grow old and become outdated or fail or lose their effectiveness. The threats we face are the same threats people faced thousands of years ago theft, extortion, violence, laundering but the ways the threats can be exploited has undergone monumental change and will keep doing so as attackers improve. You can rob only so many physical banks per hour, but you can steal an enormously huge amount of money electronically. The policies and procedures you develop for protecting your network require regular feedback and maintenance to remain viable.

There have several ways to safeguard personal and financial data as stated following.

First, cut up old documents. We can protect ourselves against potential deception. After that, we also can identity theft by remove our own paper trial. Moreover, a basic desktop shredder will work for a few sheets at a time, but for large quantities you may want to contact a commercial shredder who will also handle household needs.

Second, get it in writing. We can check the information legitimacy that requires anyone who solicits us over the phone to first send their information by mail. While we can hold back the number of phone solicitations we receive by placing our number on the National Do Not Call registry and it won’t get rid of everybody. Besides that, certain organizations like political groups, telephone surveyors, charities and companies with whom we already do business are still permitted to call.

Third, use a credit card with a small limit for mail-order and online purchases. It means that if the card we use for these purchases has a low credit limit, at least thieves won’t be able to rack up many bills before hitting a wall.

Next, choose our PIN wisely. When we want to choose something that we will remember, we don’t want it to be something that a thief can figure out by just learning our child’s name or our birth date. Therefore, a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers will offer us more security.

After that, you must review your monthly statements. This is a simple thing that you can do to protect against tragedy. You not only can alert the possible fraudulent charges, you may also find legitimate charges for services that are either redundant or no longer necessary.

Finally, protect our computer’s security. We can use many tools such as spy ware, antivirus software, firewalls and passwords to guard our computer information from the nefarious.

One of the most successful E-Commerce example is the eBay. eBay is the World’s Online Marketplace and enabling trade on local, national and international basis. eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day with a different and loving community of individuals and small businesses.

eBay Incorporation connects millions of people around the world everyday. It is also empowering them to investigate new opportunities and innovate together. Besides that, eBay Incorporation has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world since its beginning. It is including eBay, Shopping.com, PayPal, Skype and others.

Today, on the eBay marketplace, efficiency, honesty and trust are rewarded more than size or status. But the Internet has expanded and so has people’s relationship with it. More and more of our day-to-day activities are conducted online. Therefore, the Internet continually enhances our ability to connect with the world around us.

Furthermore, the eBay trust and safety team is dedicated to making eBay a safe and reliable place to trade. eBay works behind the scenes to develop the technology and skills to fight fraud and empower the community to understand and conduct safe trading practices. eBay also strives for a level playing field and information transparency, enabling economic opportunity for the community and encouraging open, honest and accountable transactions.

Pets.com was one of the examples of an e-commerce failure. Pets.com founded in 1998 by Greg McLemore. It was a short-lived online business that sold pet accessories and supplies direct to consumers over the World Wide Web. It went public from an IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange to liquidation in 9 months. A few months later, Pets.com formed an alliance with Amazon.com which made Amazon.com a majority stockholder in the company. By October of 2000, Pets.com realized that it could not raise the capital necessary to stay afloat, so finally their management decided to close its doors while it still had a positive net worth.

One factor that contributed to Pets.com’s failure was that it was in a very competitive arena, the pet supply sector. It was competing with many click-and-mortar pet supply businesses, such as Petopia.com and PetPlanet.com. Pets.com also faced competition from many brick-and-mortar pet supply businesses, including PetSmart and PETCO. In general, Pets.com was selling the same products and had the same level of service as many of its competitors, and thus, it was hard for the company to gain a strong market share.

Another factor that contributed to the failure of Pets.com was the company did not make wise financial decisions. Pets.com made significant investments in its infrastructure, such as warehouses. It result the company needing a critical mass of customers to simply break even. Another financial problem the Pets.com faced was that it had to undercharge for shipping costs in order to get customers to buy online instead of going to their local supermarket. Unfortunately, this tactic meant that it lost money on most of the items it sold.

The best factor that contributed to the failure of Pets.com was the fact that the company failed to give its prospective customers a reason for its existence. Why would pet owners buy cat food online and wait for a couple of days to receive it? The convenience of Pets.com is outweighed by the fact that they could go to the local supermarket and get the same cat food in under a half-an-hour. In general, pet owners are less likely than others to shop online because most can get their pet supply at the same place they got their groceries. Pets.com failure was due in part to the fact that it did not off pet owners a compelling reason to shop online.

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, sometimes it is also called web-based commerce consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. It can be further subdivided into three categories. They are business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and even consumer-to-consumer transactions that involve the buying and selling of goods and services, the transfer of funds, and even the exchange of ideas.

The history of e-commerce can be traced back to 1928-49 Berlin blockade and the consequent airlifting. In the process, e-commerce originated as a standard for document exchanging. Besides that, the meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce was primarily used to facilitate commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically and both are introduced in the late 1970s. In fact, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the first general standard which is instantly recognizable and flexible. It was first published in 1975. After that, the growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce.

Electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data warehousing and data mining from the 1990s onwards. Now, it has come to include different activities and processes like e-banking, e-logistics, and offshore manufacturing and alike. There has been incredible growth of supporting systems like applications, back-end systems and middleware with e-commerce. Therefore, modern industries greatly depend on the processes like broadband fiber optic networks, inventory systems, material planning modules and alike, for smooth functioning.

The earliest example of electronic commerce in physical goods was the Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computers launched in 1982. The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet online system introduced in 1991.

Cycle time is the times of all business processes from the time a need exists until it is satisfied. Any process: developing a subassembly, delivering a product to market or to take an order for a product or service and satisfy the customer's need. Reducing cycle times can increase competitive advantage, decrease carrying costs, decrease shrinkage costs, and improve cash flow. Before e-commerce exist. Product sells to final consumer need to pass thought several channel like below.

It takes longer time from producing a product until to the hand of final consumer. But with the help of E-commerce manufacturer can directly sell the product to the final consumer thought the website. For example like dell selling the PC thought website directly to the consumer.

Employees’ empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny. Yahoo and Google are the two e-commerce that encourage improving employers empowerment. The reason that yahoo and Google is so success is because the people who choose to work there is so incredibly smart. People who choose to work there is because employees are allowed to spend some of their time on whatever interests them, whether or not there is any direct usefulness. Many of Yahoo and Google’s new products have come from this employee freedom. The atmosphere in Yahoo and Google is somewhat like that of a university computer science department.

E-commerce also facilitates the customer support. Because improving online customer service could save companies money, because it is cheaper to provide answers on a Web site than to staff a call center. The more conventional eCommerce customer service tools include sending order confirmations by e-mail and having a frequently asked questions area on the Web site to allow quick and easy information to your customers regarding your product or service, or even your policies and procedures. A Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) would enable your business to gather and sort customer data, allowing you to send e-newsletters and product and service updates that can be specifically tailored to each customer.

Hi everyone.. This blog was name as 3friendsblog, it is because of this blog is created by 3 of us and we will update, maintain and control of it. We are from Year 3 Sem 1 Entrepreneurship Tutorial Group 4. We are group by two leng cai and one leng lui. Three of us are:

Lim Sheng Zhou

Tee Thiam Chin

Yeoh Hong Leng

Hai everyone..
This is my first time to use blog, so any comments just write. First of all let me introduce myself.

My name is Lim Sheng Zhou, I’m from Bidor, Perak, I think u guy know about Bidor should because of it ‘gai zai beng’ and it fruits. I’m currently studying the course of Bachelor of Business Administration (HON) Entrepreneurship in University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). Now is my first Semester for third year of this course. So it is my last year for study in UTAR.

For my hobbies, I think should is play computer game and badminton for last two year. Study in UTAR SG Long, the only sport for me is badminton; there is no other outdoor sport for me. But actually I like to play basketball and swimming too. When everyone was busy for their assignment, then computer game is the way to reduce my stress and relax (actually is to waste my time because nobody accompanies me to play badminton and other). But computer for me is not only to play game, there is any other to do also. One of it is surfing the World Wide Web.

For the first of the top five websites that I visited should be Yahoo.com. it is because of Yahoo.com is my homepage in my computer. Once I click Internet Explorer, it will go to Yahoo.com.

The second website that I mostly visited is http://chinese.cari.com.my/myforum. Chinese cari is a forum which provide all of it user to communicate and give opinion to each other about car, football team, computer technology, and other. But it not allows their user to talk the sensitive question.

The third website I visited is www.sinchew.com.my. Sinchew.com.my is the website of the newspaper Sinchew. All of u sure know that the newspaper Sinchew, so it let us to know the latest news and review old news.

Fourth website that I visited is www.osk188.com. It is the real time market share of Malaysia and some other country. It also provides company news and financial information. I had also buy market share by www.osk188.com.

The fifth website I mostly visited is www.friendster.com. Everyone knows what use of Friendster.com, so I think not need me to further explain.

Hi……My name is Yeoh Hong Leng. I am studying Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Entrepreneurship at UTAR Sg Long. I come from Perak. When I am free, I will prefer watch drama and listen to the music.

The Top 5 websites that I often visit are;

http://www.google.com/

I surf this website to find all the relevant information needed for assignment.

http://www.friendster.com/

Visiting this website, I can keep in touch with all my friend especially my hometown friends where I seldom meet them. Moreover, I can read my friends’ blog through this and also viewing their photos to know their current conditions.

http://www.utar.edu.my/

From the UTAR website, I can check on the examination timetable, society announcements, examination results, information on borrowed books and so on. Besides that, this website also provides many links to the education website such as The Star and Web Based Learning Environment.

http://www.my.com.my/

I access to this website to read about the entertainment news and looking at the weekly music charts because I like to hear the songs from this radio station.

http://chinese.cari.com.my/

I can read the daily news through this website. Moreover, I also can learn about the cosmetics, health and cooking. There is a forum part where I can post any queries on it and get answer from the net friends.

When I can access to the internet, I will mostly surf the above websites and also chatting online with my friends through the Windows Live Messenger. From this messenger, it allows me to discuss assignments or thesis with my friends besides chatting with friends. Sometimes, I will log in to the radio station website and hear the songs while surfing the internet. During the assignments period, I mostly will surf many website to search for the information.